At St Joseph's, the teaching of writing has many aspects. From our daily English lessons, to spelling, handwriting and grammar, we ensure that children are equipped with the skills that they need to come proficient writers. 

English lessons

Our English lessons are planned for following our unique 'Writing Cycle'. Children start a unit by demonstrating their current understanding of a genre/text type in a 'Explore' lesson linked to the relevant subject area.

The 'Writing Cycle' then starts with an effective model (WAGOLL) which children will be deconstructing. They will then work towards producing their own written masterpiece, empowered to do so by learning the skills they need along the way.

This is followed with children planning, drafting and finally editing thoroughly before completing their 'hot task'.

The 'Writing Cycle' is concluded by showing off all that they've learnt in the form of a review and celebrating their written work with their peers.

Useful resources

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) 

Children are taught the relevant punctuation and grammar objectives throughout the year within their daily English lessons. Where specific objectives are appropriate for a particular text type, they are explicitly taught and children are given the opportunity to apply their learning in their written work. Children are exposed to new terminology each year (conjunctions, fronted adverbials etc.) - please see the relevant glossaries on each year group's page for further clarification on these. 

Children are also expected to demonstrate their prior knowledge of basic punctuation and grammar in all written work they complete - these are known as our 'non-negotiables' for writing. These skills need to be demonstrated in 'Every Piece, Every Time'. You can find the non-negotiables for each year group on the relevant year group pages.

Spelling Lessons

Spelling lessons take place three times a week and follow the Grammarsaurus scheme of work. In the first lesson, children take part in a spelling pre-test which establishes which words they may already know how to spell and which words will be a focus for them. As a class, we then investigate the spelling rule that links the 10 focus words for the week.

The second lesson focuses on investigating the week's spelling focus and enables children to begin to identify patterns between spelling rules. 

The final lesson of the week ends with a re-test of the 10 focus words. 

Useful Resources

KS1 SPaG Activities

KS2 SPaG Activities

Handwriting

Throughout the school, children take part in regular handwriting practise. This takes place in fine motor skills activities and phonics sessions in EYFS and Key Stage 1, and in discreet handwriting lessons in Key Stage 2. 

As a school we follow the Letter Join, cursive writing scheme. Their online website provides plenty of resources to support your child in practising their handwriting, feel free to visit and log in from home using the link and credentials below...

https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/log-in.html

Useful Resources